November 1997
• At his fall address to students and parents, President John T. Casteen III points to "the great divide between academic life and social life" on Grounds, and urges "an ambitious initiative to help build intellectual community at the University."
• Ten Harrison Awards recognizing outstanding contributions to the University by faculty and administrators are announced. University alumnus David A. Harrison III funded the awards to recognize those who sustain and enhance the University's national stature.
• At the dedication of Casa Bolivar, the University's Spanish language and culture dormitory, Venezuelan ambassador Pedro Luis Echevarria unveils a plaque commemorating Fernando Bolivar as a student here in 1827.
December 1997
• The Health Sciences Center is the first University unit to pass the $100 million mark in the University's Capital Campaign. The goal for Health Sciences is raised from $140 million to $160 million.
• Fourth-year student Micah J. Schwartzman receives a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University. Since the awards were first established in 1904, forty-two Rhodes scholars have been named at U.Va., more than at any other state-supported university.
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• The letters of John Dos Passos are donated to U.Va's special collections department by his widow, Elizabeth Dos Passos, completing the University Library's collection of his manuscripts.
• The University's Combined Virginia/United Way campaign exceeds both last year's campaign total and this year's goal, raising $330,000 for local service organizations.
January 1998
• The Department of Music hosts a celebration in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King's achievements. The event includes music, dance, oratory and song.
• Businessman and philanthropist John W. Kluge donates more than 1,500 objects from his collection of twentieth century aboriginal art to the University, including works on paper, wood, canvas and bark.
• Award-winning Native American writer Simon Ortiz and poet Michael Harper speak to students as part of the Rea Visiting Writer Program.
• The University of Virginia Library publishes the historic Holsinger photographic archive on-line, documenting life at the University and in central Virginia from the late nineteenth century to the early 1920s.
• President John T. Casteen III is named president-elect of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, one of six regional accreditation authorities in the United States.
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February 1998
• IBM and U.Va. announce an alliance to speed the integration of information technology into the University's teaching and research.
• Curry School dean David W. Breneman and University president John T. Casteen III are named by the American Association of Higher Education among the nation's top educators.
• Governor Gilmore names three new members to the Board of Visitors. Hovey S. Dabney steps down after serving as rector for six years. John P. Ackerly III is elected the new rector of the University.
March 1998
• Edgar A. Starke Jr., the former dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, is elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
• Poets Gregory Orr and Rita Dove, novelists George Garrett and John Casey are among U.Va. faculty participating in the Virginia Festival of the Book held on the Grounds and in Charlottesville.
• President Casteen outlines four new planning initiatives for the next century to improve support for science and engineering, the fine and performing arts, public service, and international initiatives in his State of the University address at Cabell Hall.
• Seventeen professors and four graduate teaching assistants are honored in a ceremony celebrating excellence in teaching. Louis Bloomfield, professor of physics, and Michael Klarman, professor of law, receive SCHEV teaching awards. Farzaneh Milani, professor of Persian language and literature, is honored with the Distinguished Professor Award. Edmund P. Russell III wins the Alumni Board of Trustees Teaching Award.
April 1998
• Charles Wright, U.Va. professor of English, receives the 1998 Pulitzer prize for his recent collection of poems Black Zodiac.
• Yahoo! Internet Life magazine names U.Va. among the nation's top twenty "techno-savvy" schools. Wired classrooms, the outstanding quality of the University's Web sites, and the quality and range of computer classes offered are among the citations for excellence.
• Senior vice president and University Professor Ernest H. Ern is named the recipient of the University's Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.
• Dean of Students Robert Canevari announces his retirement next year after thirty-three years at the University.
May 1998
• The Faculty Forum for Scientific Research, chaired by microbiologist David L. Brautigan, celebrates its twentieth anniversary.
• Elizabeth K. Meyer, chair of landscape architecture, is honored by the Women Faculty and Professional Association at its annual awards luncheon as their Woman of Achievement for 1998.
June 1998
• The Women's Center selects Elaine T. Jones, director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the first black woman to graduate from U.Va's Law School, for the Distinguished Alumna Award
• The University's first undergraduate Faculty and Staff Scholarship is awarded to Angela M. Ashby, the daughter of a University employee.
• The Faculty Senate selects thirty-nine teaching initiatives to receive funding from the provost's office. They represent a wide range of interests -- from creating electronic archives to new workshops for graduate teaching assistants.
• Plans are unveiled for a new underground Special Collections Library to house the University's world-class rare books and manuscripts collection. Construction is expected to begin in the year 2000.
• Senator John Warner (Law '53) announces federal funding of $1 million for a "Groundswalk" to connect North Grounds and Central Grounds of the University. Funding will go toward construction of a bridge over Emmet Street for pedestrians, cyclists and light transportation.
July 1998
• U.S. News & World Report acknowledges excellence in seven medical specialties at the University Medical Center. The University of Virginia hospital is one of only 132 hospitals in the nation to be distinguished. The School of Medicine is now ranked 27th nationally.
• Clinch Valley College announces a sister institution agreement with Istanbul University, Turkey's most prestigious institution of higher learning.
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• The Board of Visitors approves the University's new operating budgetof $1.09 billion. This is a 3.5 percent increase over last year's figure and is attributed to state-mandated salary increases and cost of technology enhancements.
August 1998
• Work is under way on a Modern Media studies program that will include the Robertson Media Center in Clemons Library, funded by a $1.2 million gift from Timothy B. and Lisa Nelson Robertson.
September 1998
• Anita K. Jones, University Professor of computer science in the School of Engineering, is appointed to the National Science Board, which oversees the policies of the National Science Foundation.
• Jonathan D. Moreno is appointed the Medical Center's new director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics.
• President Casteen's University-wide retreat is held to discuss the formation of the planning commissions.
• U.Va. is ranked number one for the fifth consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report (in a tie this year with Berkeley) as the best public university in the country.
October 1998
• The University's Capital Campaign reaches the three-quarter mark toward its new $1 billion goal.
• The Board of Visitors approves designs for a new $41 million biomedical engineering and medical science research building.
• The drama department sponsors the eleventh annual Festival of American Film featuring "cool" culture as depicted in the movies.
• A memorial service is held for Dr. Edward W. Hook Jr., founder of the humanities in medicine program and former chair of internal medicine.
November 1998
• The University's biomedical engineering department receives a $10.5 million grant from the Whitaker Foundation to study cardiovascular disease.